All stories by Carole Woddis on BroadwayStars

Thursday, June 23, 2022

Roger Chapman obituary by Carole Woddis

My friend Roger Chapman, who has died aged 77 from heart failure, was a director and producer who made a huge impact on international theatre touring. In the 1980s, while based in Australia,…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:42AM
Saturday, October 9, 2021

‘Sheer theatrical wonder’: WHAT IF IF ONLY — Royal Court ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

WHAT IF IF ONLY – how many times must that have been said of a best beloved who has died. If only I had, what if this or that hadn’t happened?

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 07:00AM
Monday, March 30, 2020

Obituary: Christopher Stanton – talented character actor with immaculate timing who excelled in panto by Carole Woddis

A talented character actor, Christopher Stanton will be best remembered as the slightly daffy headmaster in the long-running CBBC children’s spy series

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 12:43PM
Thursday, March 5, 2020

‘Taut, economic, highly effective’: THE APOLOGISTS – Omnibus Theatre ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

A 65 minute tour de force, The Apologists certainly deserves a longer life than the few performances at Omnibus.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Tuesday, February 18, 2020

‘Excellent precision delivery’: FAR AWAY – Donmar Warehouse by Carole Woddis

Churchill’s vision two decades ago in Far Away now seems even more prescient and accurate of planet Earth’s downhill spiral: endless wars and realignments, climate change, imminent envir…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 05:00AM
Friday, February 14, 2020

‘Urgent, provocative & familiar all at the same time’: NORA: A DOLL’S HOUSE – Young Vic Theatre by Carole Woddis

Despite the challenges, and judging by the Young Vic’s typically youthful, mixed audience, Nora: A Doll’s House is a production to which they can relate and which, so far as I could see,…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 05:00AM
Wednesday, February 5, 2020

‘I came away eager for more’: PERSONA – Riverside Studios ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

I loved precisely Persona’s sense of oddness, it’s sense of non-Englishness, Krige’s subtlety and wonder, Mngcwengi’s unspoken defiance and calmness.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Sunday, January 26, 2020

‘Playlets of insistent intensity’: BECKETT TRIPLE BILL – Jermyn Street Theatre ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

Jermyn Street Theatre, London  **** www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk Review: of perf seen January 17, 2020: © Robert Workman, James Hayes in Krapp’s Last Tape, recalling a moment of blis…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Thursday, January 2, 2020

‘Simply delicious’: SWIVE – Shakespeare’s Globe ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

Natalie Abrahami makes Ella Hickson’s text and Elizabeth’s story pulsate with the sound of a young woman for whom insecurity runs in every fibre of her being.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 05:00AM
Monday, December 30, 2019

‘It is Shaw at his mischievous, provocative best’: CANDIDA – Orange Tree Theatre ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

The intimacy of the Orange Tree gives Candida the perfect setting for a discussion of moral, spiritual and political ethics.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Monday, December 23, 2019

‘It takes some guts’: FAIRVIEW – Young Vic Theatre ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

In Jackie Sibblies Drury’s case, Fairview is very much tied up with the method, the form. She blows the traditional form sky high, introducing repetition, caricature and a final twist.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 11:00AM
Friday, November 22, 2019

‘Unusual & exceptional’: LAND WITHOUT DREAMS – Gate Theatre ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

Land Without Dreams may be difficult, irritating, sometimes alarmingly ‘obvious’ but they also manage to dig further into what it is to be human, coming at us as it were from left-field.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 11:00AM
Tuesday, November 12, 2019

‘Rhys Ifans is simply mesmeric’: ON BEAR RIDGE – Royal Court Theatre ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

In a mere 90 minutes On Bear Ridge creates a theatrical metaphor of unforgettable power and impact.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 07:00AM
Monday, November 4, 2019

‘Driven by explosive characterisation & dialogue’: SHOOK – Touring ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

Spectators will go away wiser and sadder from this encounter with Shook, but most of all they will go away remembering Samuel Bailey’s dialogue and Josh Finan’s barnstormer of a performa…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 11:00AM
Tuesday, October 22, 2019

‘A triumph in so many ways’: [BLANK] – Donmar Warehouse ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

Jemima Rooper, Kate O’Flynn, Zainab Hasan and Joanna Horton carry a lion’s share delivering the vitriol, pain and helplessness of struggling women in [Blank].

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 07:00AM
Thursday, October 3, 2019

‘Delicious, clever & delectable confection’: THE WATSONS – Menier Chocolate Factory ★★★★★ by Carole Woddis

Like characters in a book who never die, Laura Wade’s The Watsons at the Menier Chocolate Factory deserves to last forever.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 07:00AM
Tuesday, October 1, 2019

‘A definitive production for many years to come’: BLOOD WEDDING – Young Vic Theatre ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

Now, in a daring and radical re-imagining, Marina Carr and Yaël Farber have transported Lorca’s Andalusian tragedy Blood Wedding to a deeply Celtic, Irish setting.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Wednesday, September 25, 2019

‘Measured, haunting production’: UNTIL THE FLOOD – Arcola Theatre ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

A great memorial, an unforgettable, nuanced testimony, we have to pay attention to what Until the Flood tells us. Listen, feel, and learn. Do see.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 07:00AM
Wednesday, September 18, 2019

‘Challenging to say the least’: AMSTERDAM – Orange Tree Theatre ★★★ by Carole Woddis

Maya Arad Yasur’s Amsterdam had already had an illustrious reception before it hit Paul Miller’s pocket dynamo Orange Tree, Richmond.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 07:00AM
Tuesday, September 17, 2019

‘Master craftsman at work’: Total Immediate Collective Imminent Terrestrial Salvation – Royal Court Theatre ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

Total immediate collective imminent terrestrial salvation. Quite a handful of a title to get hold of. But unlike much printed on the front of the bottle these days, it is what it says. It is…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Monday, September 9, 2019

‘A thoroughly plausible, engrossing update’: HEDDA TESMAN – Chichester ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

Cordelia Lynn’s Hedda Tesman renews Ibsen’s play in the light of today without in any way losing sight of the original. In this age of radical reinterpretations, that’s quite some achi…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 01:00PM
Thursday, August 29, 2019

‘Fascinating stuff’: APPROPRIATE – Donmar Warehouse ★★★ by Carole Woddis

Donmar Warehouse, London *** Box office:   020 3282 3808 (No booking fees, £1 postage fee may apply)                    Telephone Mon-Sat 10am-6pm ...

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 07:00AM
Wednesday, August 28, 2019

‘Once again Icke has pulled off a brilliant reframing’: THE DOCTOR – Almeida Theatre ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

Problematic, troubling, with a cast who give of themselves with unstinting commitment, once again Icke has pulled off a brilliant reframing in The Doctor.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 07:00AM
Monday, August 12, 2019

‘A spectacle that only the most hard-nosed sceptic would be unable to completely resist’: TREE – Young Vic Theatre ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

To the credit of Kwame Kwei-Armah and Idris Elba – and maybe Tori Allen-Martin and Sarah Henley – you can feel the urge to find a healing of all sides in a conflict between black and whi…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Tuesday, August 6, 2019

‘A battle cry against those who govern the USA’: The Time Of Our Lies – Park Theatre ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

In Ché Walker’s dynamic, scarlet splashed, viscerally staged production, The Time of Our Lies is nothing if not a battle cry against those who govern the USA and its militaristic and fore…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 07:00AM
Thursday, July 4, 2019

‘Packs a fierce climactic punch’: EUROPE – Donmar Warehouse ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

Michael Longhurst’s terrific, visceral debut production of David Greig’s Europe at the Donmar Warehouse packs a fierce climactic punch.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Saturday, June 22, 2019

‘You can’t help feeling Mamet’s real joy is in the gags’: BITTER WHEAT – West End ★★★ by Carole Woddis

It could be said that Bitter Wheat lifts the lid on the exploitation of power in the film industry, but it eaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth. Perhaps that was also part of David Mamet�…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 11:00AM
Friday, June 21, 2019

Philip Osment obituary by Carole Woddis

Theatre director and playwright who spoke for those on the margins of societyThe playwright and director Philip Osment, who has died aged 66 from complications arising from pulmonary fibrosi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:36AM
Thursday, June 13, 2019

‘A truly remarkable, rather wonderful small gem retrieved’: COUNTRY MUSIC – Omnibus Theatre ★★★★ by Carole Woddis

Marie McCarthy’s Clapham Omnibus venue never ceases to surprise. Dedicated, as befits its previous life as a library, to storytelling in all its various forms, Scott Le Crass’ revival of…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 09:00AM
Wednesday, June 12, 2019

‘A production of highs & lows’: PICTURES OF DORIAN GRAY – Jermyn Street Theatre ★★★ by Carole Woddis

It was a bold idea on Tom Littler’s part to think of adapting Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray into a multi gender-swapping stage production.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 07:00AM
Tuesday, June 4, 2019

‘One of the most joyous experiences you’ll encounter in the theatre’: COME FROM AWAY – West End ★★★★★ by Carole Woddis

Come From Away, the story of how one small town, Gander in Newfoundland, responded to events of 9/11 when 7,000 passengers from 38 diverted aircraft landed in their midst, is one of the most…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 07:00AM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards